Cartersville-Bartow Chamber Graduates Inaugural Project Purpose Class
By connecting recent high school graduates with major employers, Cartersville strengthens the workforce pipeline and celebrates their trained and rising talent as they begin their careers.
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Inaugural Project Purpose graduating class pictured from left to right named with their respective employer of choice: Austin Pilkay (Shaw), Joshua Cygan (Toyo Tires), Ronard Johnson (Toyo Tires), Kamdin DeValentino (NOTS Logistics), Christian Leon (NOTS Logistics), Camden Geer (Anheuser-Busch), Jacob Herron (Shaw), Salena Goins (Shaw).
Not pictured: Tristin Alford (YANMAR), Nycholause Garrett (NOTS Logistics), and Rikaja Lee (Textron). |
The Cartersville-Bartow County Chamber of Commerce hosted the inaugural Project Purpose Signing Day Ceremony at the Chamber of Commerce on Friday, June 17th.
Eleven high school graduates from Adairsville High School and Cartersville High School received training from industry professionals and completed a one-week intensive skills training bootcamp, which included courses on soft skills, work ethics, safety in the workplace, quality control, strengths training, resume assistance and interview preparation, and financial literacy.
Upon program completion, each young adult was provided the opportunity to interview with, and subsequently receive employment to, participating companies which included Anheuser-Busch, Gerdau, Shaw, Textron, Toyo Tires, and YANMAR – all Chamber Champions in the manufacturing sector.
Georgia Power sponsored the program and Chattahoochee Technical College hosted the courses. Chattahoochee Technical College professors, Georgia Highlands College professors, the Etowah Scholarship Foundation, leadership consultant Cherie Wasit, and local financial coach Dan Dollevoet were all facilitators in the program.
High School Counselors and Work Based Learning Coordinators helped identify the young adults based on their post-high school aspirations. Students had to apply and be interviewed for acceptance in the program.
Chamber Workforce Development Director Matthew Thomas remarked “We are extremely proud of all eleven young adults for completing the rigorous weeklong training and are now launching their careers with some of our community’s leading manufacturers. Most of them received at least two job offers. We are very thankful to every industry, education partner, and organization that made this inaugural Project Purpose program year successful.”
Chamber CEO Cindy Williams also shared “There are few things more rewarding than opening doors to a bright future for our local, young talent. This program allows for life changing opportunities, and I could not be prouder of the graduates and the Bartow community.”
For full details about Project Purpose, visit
www.ForBartow.com, the Chamber’s newly dedicated workforce development website.
